Then why was she able to see the Music Box's item description and use the wand?

The answer was obvious.

The role the player was playing in this instance was the Witch. The fact that only the player could see the descriptions for both the wand and the Music Box had been hinting at that all along.

Even so, Su Lingyan still had no memories of being the Witch. She didn't know the true motives of those two men. Why had they trapped Hank and Tina in an endless time loop? Why did they want to destroy the Music Box?

"Now that you've remembered you're the Witch, your past memories have returned. The Witch's memories have been sent to you."

A subtitle appeared before her.

So solving the mystery of my identity unlocks this memory.

Su Lingyan decided not to process it immediately. She needed to deal with Saylor first, preferably as quickly as possible. Tina and Hank might run into Mr. Williams at any moment.

"Balala Abrala..." Saylor raised his wand and began casting a spell.

Bang!

Su Lingyan shot him in the head.

Saylor died because his cast time was too long.

"Yeah... this is definitely more practical than magic." Su Lingyan nodded in satisfaction. "Although... I guess this gun is magical too?"

Without another glance, she sprinted into the distance.

She needed to reunite with Tina as soon as possible.

As she ran, she began reviewing the memories the game had just given her.

The Witch, Saylor, and Mr. Williams had all been capable of using magic.

Once, they had been close friends.

All three could grow stronger by absorbing negative emotions. Unlike the other two, however, the kind-hearted Witch sought out those suffering from grief or despair, quietly drawing in their negative emotions without causing them further harm.

After witnessing countless tragedies, she wished she could undo people's regrets.

Brilliant as she was, she devoted herself entirely to creating the Music Box—a magical artifact capable of reversing time.

What she never realized was that Saylor and Mr. Williams were nothing like her.

Rather than waiting for negative emotions to appear naturally, they deliberately created disasters to harvest even more despair.

After countless tragedies, people repeatedly used the Music Box to turn back time and undo the damage, rendering all of Saylor and Mr. Williams' efforts meaningless.

So they decided to kill the Witch.

Then destroy the Music Box.

Having poured nearly all her power into creating it, the Witch was no match for the two of them. Gravely wounded, she lost her memories.

Before her memories completely disappeared, she managed to hide herself away and cast one final enchantment on the Music Box.

Only someone incapable of using magic could activate it.

Unable to find the Witch, Cyril and Mr. Williams turned their attention to destroying the Music Box itself.

Unfortunately, they discovered that it couldn't be destroyed.

Instead, they devised a brilliant alternative.

They would select a pair of lovers, curse one of them, and give them the Music Box.

Just as with Tina and Hank, the couple would become trapped in an endless cycle of rewinding time, rapidly draining the Music Box's magical energy.

Each reset consumed only a tiny portion of the users' life force.

Using it a few times wasn't a problem.

But the more loops they created, the more life they sacrificed.

Eventually, the couple's lives would burn away completely, leaving them unable to activate the Music Box ever again.

Tina's grandfather had been one of those victims.

What neither of them expected was that one day, the Witch suddenly reappeared...

...having completely lost her memories.

Originally, Saylor and Mr. Williams intended to kill her immediately.

But then another idea occurred to them.

Perhaps they could manipulate the amnesiac Witch into destroying the Music Box herself.

Once it was gone, killing her would be easy.

After all, stripped of her memories, she was nowhere near as powerful as she had once been.

Everything that followed was exactly what the player had experienced.

"Saylor never should've given me that wand," Su Lingyan thought.

Then again... if he hadn't, the player probably wouldn't have had any chance of turning things around.

Su Lingyan was a fast reader.

She finished reviewing the memories in about a minute.

Soon afterward, she spotted Tina and Hank.

Fortunately, they didn't seem to have sacrificed too much of their life force.

They should still be able to grow old together for many decades.

"You don't have to run anymore," Su Lingyan called.

Luckily, Mr. Williams hadn't shown up yet.

"Is it over?" Tina asked.

"I dealt with one of them. There's still one left."

Tina nodded before suddenly remembering something and pulling out her phone.

"11:43... That time has already passed."

She let out a long breath.

"Thank goodness."

For the first time, both Tina and Hank had survived past 11:41 together.

"So the curse really was Saylor's doing." Su Lingyan nodded.

Without the curse, all she had to do was kill Mr. Williams.

That should bring this dungeon to an end.

Just then, her phone rang.

Looking down, she saw an unfamiliar number.

"I assume you've recovered your memories by now."

Mr. Williams' voice came through the speaker.

Faint conversations and the sound of passing traffic could be heard in the background.

"Come to my villa."

"Let's settle this once and for all."

"Just the two of us?" A slow smile spread across Su Lingyan's face.

"Sure."

"I'll be waiting."

She hung up.

"I'm going to finish this," she said.

"You two should head home."

"He won't die again..."

Tina tightened her grip around Hank's hand.

"...Right?"

"You mean me?" Hank pointed at himself.

"Mm..."

Su Lingyan wasn't sure how much Hank remembered now.

She chose not to answer directly.

"Nothing else is going to happen."

"I promise."

Su Lingyan headed toward the villa.

Meanwhile, Hank and Tina started walking home together.

"Darling..." Hank spoke first.

"I dreamed that you kept dying."

"I dreamed the same thing..." Tina replied softly.

But both of them knew...

Those hadn't been dreams.

"It's finally over."

"I just hope that young lady can finish everything safely..."

"I'm afraid she can't."

A voice interrupted them from ahead.

Mr. Williams stood in the middle of the road, leaning on his cane with the same refined smile as ever.

"Weren't you supposed to be..." Tina instinctively stepped backward.

"At the villa?" Mr. Williams smiled.

"Of course that was a lie. My optimal strategy is to kill one of you. That way, you'll activate the Music Box and rewind time. Everything will return to the way it was. And I'll have another opportunity to make my plans."

Su Lingyan had proven she could kill Saylor instantly.

Mr. Williams wasn't completely confident he could defeat her himself.

Resetting the timeline was his safest option.

Perhaps because he and Saylor were both wizards, they retained every memory from each time loop.

Strictly speaking, time never actually looped for them.

Their personal timelines remained linear.

Instead, each reset simply added another set of memories that suddenly appeared in their minds.

In the next loop...

He and Cyril would join forces from the very beginning and kill the Witch immediately.

What Should we do?

Tina desperately searched for an answer.

Su Lingyan couldn't possibly get here in time.

Did they really have no choice but to activate the Music Box one more time?

"The Music Box only has a tiny bit of magic left."

Mr. Williams raised his cane.

"Don't worry. You'll be free soon enough."

He struck the ground with it.

Hank rushed forward, shielding Tina with his body.

Bang!